Safety mounting for outboard motors



Sept. 12, 1950 H. SHOWALTER SAFETY MOUNTING FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS FiledApril 4, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

HEBSDHEL SHCIWALTER BY 7 p ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 12 1950 TE PATEN'II..,;.ioFF.lC:E IING Rowen-HEARD Morons e walten'itiehfiifindfind;ApplicationAfiit' l,1949Sri5lNot5g4$4 w (p 24s+ w a This inventionrelates to safety mountings for boat outboard-motors In attachingoutboard-motors to boat's, itis the usual practice to; secure them.directly.-to, he wooden'transom of a-hoatby means of clamps which aretightened into place, by oneior-Amore clamping screws havingbuttons'directly-in engagement. with the wooden surface of; the boattransom. .1 The gripping; force of'the clamping screws may bedestroyedbvfiihe. wetting. of the transom; thereby reducingtheirictional force between the clamping surfaces,- or a clampingscrewmaybe-.1

come loosenectdue to the vibration. of themotor and; the forces set upby the thrust of tlieipro v peller. y

-In the usual arrangement; the looseningof the holding force; between;-a clamping screw; andathe transom isvery likely to cause the motor;ifitt'lS running, to be. lifilecl from its suppor-t-anii-"lost!overboard. In- .the case; 1-where two clamping screws are used, ii oneloses its cla nping forceg the motor may swing; in a vertical plan'etoexerta liiting and turning forcesufiloient tofcansize the boat. .It isone of the objects of my :inventionato eliminate these hazards by meansof ai'rattach-a ment which will; prevent" vertical movemeiit I'of theinotor ;;with;res1ge ot-tow the transom-sin ease i theclamping;iorcebetween the m'otor-"an d"th'es 30 transom becomes reducedinthe operation of the motor.

secured to the boat I permit motor.

Another object of my invention is to provide a safety attaching? meansrte oii tboard motors dapt f r- 1 h di iereew pss p e-me of easyattachment and removalof the with variation in distancebtwein-thegclamns ing bolts ofthemotors, t, I Other objectsahd-featursofmy invention will be apparent from the detail-c description" anddrawings; and will be pointed out iii the clai'frisl My invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a frontelevational view of one form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the device showing an outboardmotor clamping member.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a modified form of my invention,and

horizontal' groovesut 1 y :1; The plate 6 is genera1lyrectangular in"shape fiiare exactly the saiiie" "the groove 22.

Fig; l isya fragmentary sectional 'vie'wrtakeri uponline' l-ekofiFigrli-w 3 Referring first to Fig. .1 ofthe drawings; 5-."

fragmentary view of a boat transom'to whiclrthe structuretofi myinvention; isv appliedzsiAttached I to theitransonr 5 is asmetal; platetiwhich maybe of cast aluminum; brass; bronze or other metal ofa'corrosive resistant charac,ter.'-- v and is providedthrough "itsifacewitli two uni; formly, spaced-elongatedJopenings 1 for the nur posetobehereinafter desciiibedt- As" ShOWIli- IH' Fig. 2b theaplate'isaipiovided -wifih' a thickened" portion atits 'upper edee,-and'tap'ersTrdm':tori

13013017130111 except 'adjacent'to :aneabove the" elorr-e gatedopenings'l, @where' it is provided with thin. flattened surfaces It.) Portions II112 and lfi-rjofi the plate-which defihethe ell'd limitsofitlfe 61611gated openingS:-'are oi; the greatest thickness; Taitthe under-portionof 'thexplate; Theseithickened portions are-feachprovided withua hole"l4 ning lengthwise of the plate '6; as indicated in the broken awayportion of Fig; 1.1. Lat'ching rods I5"extend'ithrough the'idrillholes'I4 adjacent the withdrawal'hitherod 1 I J nt'its iniirendg eacli oflatching i is provided upon one s d with a flattened poi a meteor ture.

In a normal position of a latching rod IS with position, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 2, the flattened portion 2! will permit the rod I5to he slid past the spring member 23 so that it may be withdrawn fromthe plate 8, through the groove I8.

In the use of this device, the plate 6 is secured to the inner face of aboat transom 5, by means of screws 60, in a position to receive clampbrackets 3B for an outboard motor. Threaded clamp A modification of thedevice which will readily suggest itself to one skilled in the art, willbe the use of a single elongated latch mechanism as shown in Fig. 3 inplace of the double latch 5 mechanism shown in Fig. l.

The device of this invention provides a simple, easily applied safeguardfor the lives and equipment of the users of outboard boat motors. By itsuse, all danger of thecmoton jumping from screws 3!, extending throughan inner leg "32 of 10 tthe lfboat fin "case; the i clanfipii giiscrewsibecome the bracket 30, carry clamp buttons 33 on their inner ends.

To mount the motor, the latching rods l5 are withdrawn from the plateandthe clamp :brackloosened will be obviated so long as the latch,nnechanism is in place. The simplicity of the apparatus makes it aneasy matter to attach ian'd' detachafin'otor, thus readily adaptingitself ets are slid over the boat transom 5, and platei l'li'fto'a quickchange of motors as may oittimes be 3, until the clamp buttons 33 areopposit the A elongated openings 7, through which they may be passed byturning the clamp screws 3| until 3| are set in position, the latchingrods I 5 will be slid into position back of the upper portion of thebuttons 33, and turned downwardly'to'engage the spring member 23 withthe locking roove 22. It will be'noted'by reference to Fig. 3 that thelatching rod l5 is separated from the adjacent face of the button 33 a,distance lessthan' the thickness of the metal at the edge of the elongated opening I, so that even though the clamp screw 3| should becomeloosened, itis limited in its backward movement toa distance equal tothespace between the rod I5 and the adjacent there is shown a plate 40,provided with a" single circular opening 4i, to receive a clamp screwbut ton 42. The metal of the plate 40, surroundingthe opening 4|, israised or projected outwardly from-the face orthe plate to'provide asemi-- circular or U-shaped projection 43, having legs 44, which extendupwardly to the upper edge of the plate 40. Aligned openings through thelegs 44 receive a latching bar, comprising a horizontal portion 45, anda rightangled portion 46. The

plate 40 is provided at eachend with vertical de-- pressions 41 andhorizontal depressions 43 to re-' ceive and permit the removal of thelatching bar;

A notch or groove 49 in one end of the'latchin'g' bar receives alatching spring 50, secured bya screw 5!, upon the face of the plate 40.A screw 52,. having its head flattened upon one side, as at 53, issecured in the plate 40 adjacent the lower end of the-vertical groove ordepression 41,-

and may be turned to engage and lock the lower lend of the right angledportion of the latching bar r By moving the screw 52 from the'lowerright- '65 vided at the lower lefthand corner, and the screw 5| from theupper lefthand corner to the hole 56 a hand corner of the plate 40 tothe hole 55, proin the upper righthand corner of the plate 40, the.device may be converted from righthand operation to lefthand operation.a

G the spirit or-Sc'ope of my invention.

movably' supported inthe' longitudinal openings.

the smaller type motors. In .this modification vnecessaryin outboardmotor boat races.

Because'of the elongated openings 1 in the ii. ,device of Fig? 1; thisform may be used for difthey become firmly engaged with the inner I H BI of the boat transom. When the clamp" screwsferent types and sizes ofmotors where there is a variation in separation of the clamping screws.

Although I have shown and described myinvention' with respectto-certain' details or oonstruction, it is to be understood that-,1;donot wish to be'unduly limitedthe'reto,-many modifications beingpossible' 'without departing iroln;

IclaimzfQ H g I l. The" combination" with a boat transom 1 andanoutb'oard clamping screw, ofa safety :ijttac'aliment for the motorcomprising a plate-secured to the transomfsaid'plate being provideclwith a transverse opening to receive the clamping screw button, and withlongitudinally aligned openings spaced horizontally and forwardofthebutton' receiving opening and 'a' retaining member" re- 2. Thecombination with a boat transonr'aii d an outboard'motor clamping screw,or a's'afty longitudinally and rotatably movable in j the" alignedopenings, and means for latching the retaining member in one position ofits rotational movement; I

'3. The combination with a boat transoin'and' an outboard motor clampingscrew, of a saret j attachment for a motor comprising a plate sc curedto the transom; said plate being'provicle'd with a transverse opening toreceive the clamp ingz'screwbutton andwith longitudinally alignedopenings" spaced horizontally forward of' 'the but is nEFEnENcEs CITEDThe following references are of record in the file of this patent: r

Un TEn'sYrATEs PATENTS Number Name Date 2,472,704 Human June 7, 1949 1,ton receiving opening a distance less than the-

